Alabama Course of Study
Science
Kindergarten
#6 Compare size, shape, structure, and basic needs of living things.
• Identifying similarities of offspring and their parents
#7 Classify objects using the five senses.
1st Grade
#4 Describe survival traits of living things, including color, shape, size, texture, and covering.
• Describing a variety of habitats and natural homes of animals
2nd Grade
#4 Describe observable effects of forces, including buoyancy, gravity, and magnetism
#6 Identify characteristics of animals, including behavior, size, and body covering
#10 Identify the impact of weather on agriculture, recreation, the economy, and society.
• Recognizing the importance of science and technology to weather predictions
3rd Grade
#8 Identify how organisms are classified in the Animalia and Plantae kingdoms.
#10 Determine habitat conditions that support plant growth and survival.
4th Grade
#5 Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.
• Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular
Habitats
#6 Classify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms.
• Describing the grouping of organisms into populations, communities, and ecosystems
• Classifying common organisms into kingdoms, including Animalia, Plantae, Protista, Fungi, Archaebacteria, and Eubacteria
#7 Describe geological features of Earth, including bodies of water, beaches, oc
5th Grade
#9 Describe the relationship of populations within a habitat to various communities and ecosystems.
• Describing the relationship between food chains and food webs
6th Grade
#7 Describe Earth's biomes.
Examples: aquatic biomes, grasslands, deserts, chaparrals, taigas, tundras
• Identifying geographic factors that cause diversity in flora and fauna, including elevation, location, and climate
7th Grade
#7 Describe biotic and abiotic factors in the environment.
Examples:
- biotic-plants, animals;
- abiotic-climate, water, soil
• Arranging the sequence of energy flow in an ecosystem through food webs, food chains, and energy pyramids
Biology (9th – 12th)
#11 Classify animals according to type of skeletal structure, method of fertilization and reproduction, body symmetry, body coverings, and locomotion.
#12 Describe protective adaptations of animals, including mimicry, camouflage, beak type, migration, and hibernation.
#13 Trace the flow of energy as it decreases through the trophic levels from producers to the quaternary level in food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.
#14 Trace biogeochemical cycles through the environment, including water, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.
• Relating natural disasters, climate changes, nonnative species, and human activity to the dynamic equilibrium of ecosystems
Examples:
- natural disasters-habitat destruction resulting from tornadoes;
- climate changes-changes in migratory patterns of birds;
- human activity-habitat destruction resulting in reduction of biodiversity, conservation resulting in preservation of biodiversity
#15 Identify biomes based on environmental factors and native organisms.
#16 Identify density-dependent and density-independent limiting factors that affect populations in an ecosystem.
Examples:
- density-dependent-disease, predator-prey relationships, availability of food and water;
- density-independent-natural disasters, climate
• Discriminating among symbiotic relationships, including mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism
Environmental Science (9th-12th)
#7 Identify reasons coastal waters serve as an important resource.
#8 Identify major contaminants in water resulting from natural phenomena, homes, industry, and agriculture.
• Describing the eutrophication of water by industrial effluents and agricultural runoffs
• Classifying sources of water pollution as point and nonpoint
#12 Identify positive and negative effects of human activities on biodiversity.
• Identifying endangered and extinct species locally, regionally, and worldwide
• Identifying causes for species extinction locally, regionally, and worldwide
Zoology (9th-12th)
#7 Explain how species adapt to changing environments to enhance survival and reproductive success, including changes in structure, behavior, or physiology.
Examples: aestivation, thicker fur, diurnal activity
#8 Differentiate among organisms that are threatened, endangered, and extinct.
Aquascience Elective (9th-12th)
#1 Differentiate among freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater ecosystems.
• Identifying chemical, geological, and physical features of aquatic ecosystems
Environmental Elective (9th-12th)
Genetics Elective (9th-12th)
Marine Biology Elective (9th-12th)
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